{{Short description|American politician}} {{infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Cecil Burke Day, Jr. | honorific_suffix = | state_house1 = Georgia | district1 = 153th | term_start1 = January 1995 | term_end1 = January 2003 | preceded1 = Eric Johnson | succeeded1 = | state_house2 = Georgia | district2 = 126th | term_start2 = January 2003 | term_end2 = January 10, 2005 | preceded2 = | succeeded2 = David Knight | state_house3 = Georgia | district3 = 163th | term_start3 = January 2005 | term_end3 = January 2010 | preceded3 = | succeeded3 = Ben Watson | office4 = Member of the Tybee Island City Council | term_start4 = 1991 | term_end4 = 1994 | birth_date = {{birth date|1954|4|12}} | birth_place = Jacksonville, North Carolina, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2017|3|5|1954|4|12}} | death_place = Tybee Island, Georgia, U.S. | resting_place = Arlington Memorial Park, Sandy Springs, Georgia, U.S. | alma_mater = Mercer University | occupation = Politician, author | party = Republican | spouse = Sally | children = 3 }}
'''Burke Day''' (April 12, 1954 – March 5, 2017) was an American politician and author.
==Early life and education== '''Cecil Burke Day, Jr''' was born in Jacksonville, North Carolina to Cecil B. Day and Marian (Deen) Uldine Smith Day. One of four sons born to the couple. His father was a real estate developer, and founder of the Days Inn motel chain.<ref name="Dad">{{cite web|title=Cecil B. Day, at 44; Georgian Who Began Days Inn Motel Chain|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/19/archives/cecil-b-day-at-44-georgian-who-began-days-inn-motel-chain-bibles.html|author=Robert MCG. Thomas, Jr.|date=December 19, 1978|accessdate=May 11, 2018}}</ref> Young Day went to Mercer University in Atlanta, Georgia. He later moved to Tybee Island, Georgia, site of his father's first Days Inn, where he worked in real estate and investments.
==Political career== Day was first elected to public office as a member of the Tybee Island City Council. He served on the Council from 1991 to 1994. In 1994 he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives as a Republican representing District 153. He took office in January 1995 at a time when his brother, Clinton M. Day, served as a member of the Georgia State Senate. Burke Day continued to serve in the Georgia House for 8 consecutive terms (16 years), until January 2011.<ref>{{cite web|title=Members Of The General Assembly Of Georgia - Second Session Of 1995-1996 Term|publisher=State of Georgia|url=http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/cgi-bin/govdimag.cgi?path=dbs/1996/ga/s700/_ps1/g4/1995_h1996/sess_p2_sno_p2.con/&user=galileo&sessionid=637f8586-1537562550-4705&serverid=DU&instcode=afpl&return=ggpd%3fuserid%3dgalileo%26dbs%3dggpd%26action%3dretrieve%26recno%3d22%26numrecs%3d25%26__rtype%3drecno%26key%3dy-ga-bs700-b-ps1-bg4-b1995-h1996-bsess-p2-sno-p2|date=February 1996|accessdate=May 11, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Members Of The General Assembly Of Georgia - First Session Of 2009-2010 Term|publisher=State of Georgia|url=http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/cgi-bin/govdimag.cgi?path=dbs/2009/ga/s700/_ps1/g4/2009_h2010/sess_p_b1/elec_p_btext.con/&user=galileo&sessionid=637f8586-1537562550-4705&serverid=DU&instcode=afpl&return=ggpd%3fuserid%3dgalileo%26dbs%3dggpd%26action%3dretrieve%26recno%3d9%26numrecs%3d25%26__rtype%3drecno%26key%3dy-ga-bs700-b-ps1-bg4-b2009-h2010-bsess-p-b1-belec-p-btext|date=2009|accessdate=May 11, 2018}}</ref> Day served on the Appropriations, Defense & Veterans Affairs, and Public Safety & Homeland Security committees. He was chairman of Georgia’s Homeland Security and Public Safety. He was perhaps best known for the Stephens-Day legislation, which froze the taxable value of residential property at the time the property was purchased, protecting homeowners from being taxed out of their homes when property values went up.<ref name="Obit2">{{cite web|title=Former state Rep. Burke Day, 62, passes away Sunday at his Tybee home|publisher=Athens Banner-Herald|url=http://www.onlineathens.com/local-news/2017-03-05/former-state-rep-burke-day-62-passes-away-sunday-his-tybee-home|date=March 4, 2017|accessdate=May 11, 2018}}</ref>
==Later years== Day wrote a book about his father, who died at age 44. It tells the story of Cecil B. Day, Sr., and how he built the Days Inn motel chain. ''Day by Day: The Story of Cecil B. Day and his Simple Formula for Success'' was published in 2000.<ref name="Jr.2000">{{cite book|author=Cecil Burke Day, Jr.|title=Day by Day: The Story of Cecil B. Day and His Simple Formula for Success|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8TfhLiBMFEYC|date=1 January 2000|publisher=Jonathan David Publishers, Incorporated|isbn=978-0-8246-0425-7}}</ref> Burke Day died at his home in Tybee Island, Georgia on March 5, 2017, from complications of a stroke. Day also suffered from muscular dystrophy.<ref>'Former state Rep. Burke Day, passes away Sunday, at Tybee home,' '''Savannah Morning News,''' March 6, 2017</ref><ref>[http://www.votesmart.org/candidate/7874/burke-day# Votesmart.com.-Burke Day]</ref><ref>[http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/Archives/19992000/house/gash153.htm Georgia General Assembly-Burke Day]</ref><ref name = "Obit">{{cite web|title=Cecil Day|publisher=Legacy.com|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/atlanta/obituary.aspx?pid=184354114|date=March 8, 2017|accessdate=May 10, 2018}}</ref>
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Burke}} Category:1954 births Category:2017 deaths Category:People from Jacksonville, North Carolina Category:People from Chatham County, Georgia Category:Mercer University alumni Category:Businesspeople from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Georgia (U.S. state) city council members Category:Republican Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:21st-century members of the Georgia General Assembly